Quitting School Sounds Appealing

[Nastasha]

I am not afraid to admit that I actually like school. Ever since junior high I've liked going to class, getting the work done, and getting grades that represent the effort I put in. But right now I hate it. I just finished an online class, and I'm ending up with a C when I put in more effort than I have for any of my other classes this semester. I took the online quizzes and did the online activities over and over again, until I got a 100% on every single one.

 

But for the three writing assignments, I got three Cs. I have never gotten below a B on a writing assignment (even though I'm not the best essay writer - they're so boring) since I started enjoying writing in high school. Not even in AP English classes. I tried talking to the professor after assignment one, and she just said I didn't meet her requirements. So I worked harder on the second assignment. Instead of a 75 I got a 78. I made sure I used citations and was extremely thorough. Still not good enough. I spent seven hours on the third assignment. 75.

 

I'm going to email her again and politely express my feeling that I worked harder than a C-average for this course. I'm not very hopeful though. Anyone else ever had to deal with this? I usually Google my professors before I choose my classes, but online classes where I'm at don't have professors listed until the course starts. I realize not everyone here is in school, but do you have any past issues like this? It's beyond frustrating to me, when I have to keep a certain GPA to keep scholarships.

[Y_B]

Definitely.

Happened to me with my intro to Philosophy class. The TA and I were just not on the same page when it came to the quality of my work and I ended up eating it (my grade, not the copy of my paper ) My friend also did this thing where he went to the prof specifically to get suggestion on improvements for his paper...she marked all over it and so he made all the corrections and whatnot and went back to see how she liked it...and she did the same thing. It was as if she couldn't make up her own mind about what she wanted in a paper so she made my friend basically change his entire paper like 5 times before he was just like "screw this" and turned it in the way he wanted it. He ended up getting like a B or something.

 

You should go talk to your prof face to face rather than emailing. Emailing is extremely impersonal and profs take it much less seriously.

 

P.S. School blows.

(just kidding, I very much enjoy my time here)

[Palantir]

Hi Natasha. Don't throw away the whole barrel because of one rotten apple - especially since it's mostly a barrel of fun.

 

A good lecturer will respond to your questions and tell you- what was wrong with your efforts - and what you can do to fix the things that were wrong.

If you are not getting a helpful response then I would suggest going to someone higher up in the system - they will soon sense whether you are genuine.

It can't be the quality of your writing that the person objects to. I read your story on GA and it's clear, expressive, and well written - so it may have something to do with your content.

 

Here's a technique I used the year before last when I did a year of full time study.

I'd give the lecturer my assignment and ask what still needed to be done to get the best mark possible, before submitting a final version. Then I'd add their suggestions (whether I agreed with them or not). Since they were their suggestions it makes it hard for them to mark the work down. Lol - most times I'd end up with a HD.

It's a very valid way to work too - you're getting the feedback before you submit rather than after. The major drawback is that it means you have to have work ready much sooner.

 

Do you know other students who are doing that course? - or even better, have already done that course? - talking to them is another good way to learn of the lecturer's quirks and ways to get round them.

 

It may be possible to ask for your work to be assessed by someone else in the system - you could look into that if you're certain you've been treated unfairly.

[Dark]

I had this issue, too, when I had an independent study class in college, except that my prof gave me F's on both papers I submitted. I had another prof in the same department grade them and got an 'A', so i went to the dean.

 

Both the suggestions above are good ones. Try and work with the prof (mine refused to tell me what he didn't like), but if that doesn't work, don't be afraid to talk to the next person up on the food chain.

 

In any course, submitting early and asking for feedback prior to a final grade is a good idea and teachers (like myself) usually really respect and admire the work ethic of students who do this. The upside is that it almost always results in a higher final grade.

[Mark Arbour]

I am not afraid to admit that I actually like school. Ever since junior high I've liked going to class, getting the work done, and getting grades that represent the effort I put in. But right now I hate it. I just finished an online class, and I'm ending up with a C when I put in more effort than I have for any of my other classes this semester. I took the online quizzes and did the online activities over and over again, until I got a 100% on every single one.

 

But for the three writing assignments, I got three Cs. I have never gotten below a B on a writing assignment (even though I'm not the best essay writer - they're so boring) since I started enjoying writing in high school. Not even in AP English classes. I tried talking to the professor after assignment one, and she just said I didn't meet her requirements. So I worked harder on the second assignment. Instead of a 75 I got a 78. I made sure I used citations and was extremely thorough. Still not good enough. I spent seven hours on the third assignment. 75.

 

I'm going to email her again and politely express my feeling that I worked harder than a C-average for this course. I'm not very hopeful though. Anyone else ever had to deal with this? I usually Google my professors before I choose my classes, but online classes where I'm at don't have professors listed until the course starts. I realize not everyone here is in school, but do you have any past issues like this? It's beyond frustrating to me, when I have to keep a certain GPA to keep scholarships.

 

I'm on the other side of the table, so I'll give you my perspective. You should get valid feedback from your prof, because you're supposed to be able to use that to improve. That's not optional, and it's not negotiable. However, hearing someone whine about their grade is entirely different. In her opinion, you did C- work, and that's what she gave you. The discussion is about what you do to improve, not that you deserved a better grade. You have another twist on this, since it's an online course, so I don't know if that means a face-to-face meeting is even possible. You'd probably get more info from her via e-mail. I'm assuming she uses turnitin? If so, didn't she give you feedback on your paper? Comments and the like.

 

Two other thoughts. First, I don't know which school you go to, but going up the ladder is most likely going to be useless at most institutions, especially if it's a Research 1 university. What you can do is nail her on her evaluations at the end of the term (you do get to do those, I'm assuming). That gives her feedback, gives her bosses feedback, and if she's up for tenure, it goes in her file.

 

The second thing is that before you take a class, you may want to look up your future profs on ratemyprofessors.com. It's incredibly invalid, because anyone can post anything on there, yet it seems to be remarkably accurate nonetheless. Do your fellow students a favor, and go there and post a review of this woman. They'll know to dodge her classes.

[methodwriter85]

I'm on the verge of flunking a class that I need for graduation, which would mean I'd have to take four classes in the spring semester instead of three. Luckily my record has been pretty good, but my professor and I just don't really see eye to eye on what constitutes a research paper, and she completely trashed my first draft and told me to completely re-write it. I'm going to spend Saturday and Sunday on it, talk to her on Monday, and see where things are. She is probably the most notoriously hard professor at school; I wish I hadn't needed this class but I did.

 

My other classes are going fine, however.

[Contest4jen]

I think uni is sometimes a necessary evil! Don't get me wring, most of the time I Love It! But when I dont I just remind myself that I will need my degree to get most jobs.

[Fishwings]

This happens to mostly everyone. I'm not sure about the grading system in your university, but 78 on a writing assignment sounds like quite a good achievement already. Some professors just don't dish out great marks no matter how many hours you put into, and 7 hours is a very average amount of time to put in a paper, really.

 

If talking to your professor doesn't work, then the best advice I have for you is to stop mulling over this and prioritize your time and focus on other subjects to boost your GPA. There's no point in trying to perfect your mark for one class. And university and high school are not comparable, hehe. Doesn't matter how great of a student you are in high school, your GPA is expected to drop once you reach university : P

 

What year are you in?

[JamesSavik]

I'm an old jock so please pardon my sports metaphors.

 

You can't win the game if you aren't in the game.

 

There are difficulties in doing anything worthwhile. What makes it worthwhile is that you overcame the difficulties and achieved.

 

If you quit, you deny yourself the opportunity of success.

[TetRefine]

It doesn't matter how hard you tried, only how good the end product is. If you work hard and still fail, well, you failed. If you half-assed it and succeeded, well, you succeeded. Effort doesn't mean jack shit if the end product is no good, or not good enough.

 

My dad gave me this advice a long time ago, and its honestly been a pillar that I've lived by.

[Nastasha]

All valid responses, thanks guys. Yeah, I'm not really quitting, but I really wish I could. The professor does leave comments on the papers, but I didn't find them helpful. So I asked her for clarification and what I needed to do to improve. She just directed me to the written assignment guidelines and said I didn't meet the requirements. I was pretty sure I did though, so I tried being more thorough on the next assignment. Again, she left comments saying it didn't meet the requirements for a higher grade. I answered the questions thoroughly, so I don't see how I could have. I did outside research and used citations and submitted a properly-formatted list of my resources. I didn't mean to sound like I was complaining or whining, I'm just frustrated and disappointed. I took her feedback and built on it, and I definitely felt like I had improved.

 

Also, I looked the professor up online last night, and found out that the vast majority of students had given her poor ratings all around on RateMyProfessor. If only I had known who was teaching my course when I signed up. Also also, @FishWings, the papers were all out of 100 points, so 78 is C+ range, and I'm used to anywhere between 85 and 98 for that much effort. Normally I can do a respectable paper in three to four hours. Seven is a new record for me.

[Myr]

Howdy Neighbor! (I'm in Rochester too)

 

You're supposed to look up the prof before you sign up for them.

 

And I've always had frustration with subjective 'soft' subjects like English and such. I much prefer objective things like Math and engineering.

[option]

quick suggestion;

is there anyone else that could have a look over the requirements & your papers?

 

 

you said its an online course, so is this an additional workload for this professor? id be concerned as to whether theyre treating online students differently to class-based ones.

are you able to discuss things with other online students, see if theyre also having the same issues.

 

 

as for scholarships, contact them now & inform them about the issue, so that theyre not suddenly faced with the information at a later date.

[Nastasha]

Howdy Neighbor! (I'm in Rochester too)

 

You're supposed to look up the prof before you sign up for them.

 

And I've always had frustration with subjective 'soft' subjects like English and such. I much prefer objective things like Math and engineering.

 

Hello fellow snowy city dweller! I know, I always look up my professors before signing up for classes, but professors for online classes aren't listed until the class starts. By then, I would have no other class to transfer into. It's a really stupid way to do things, if you ask me.

 

Online, you can check your grade compared to the class average as a whole, and my average is higher than the class average. That's really depressing. The entire class is averaging less than a B, with maybe one or two exceptions.

[KriZstan]

I would encourage you to stick with it and not quit school. Just think of how rewarding it will be when you graduate in front of your friends and family. You do not want to do something that you will later regret. I am a student at Augusta State University and there have been times when I have felt burnt out and ready to give in to what's easier and quit, but I stuck with it and now I have a 3.88 GPA and am very involved at school. I am a Senator in the Student Government Association. I am President of Lambda Alliance, the Gay-Straight Alliance on campus among many other things I do on campus. My advice would be to get active in programs and student orgs at your school!

 

Good luck.

[KriZstan]

"Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you land among the stars!"

 

The above quote as always kept me going in all my endeavors and of course with school you have to look at the larger picture... your education and graduation! School is a stepping stone for life!

 

Cheers!